Roberto Machado Noah/LightRocket/Getty Images/File
Location sign on Beach Boulevard in the town of Calpe, Alicante province, Spain.
CNN —
While tourists in Barcelona risk being doused with water pistols, residents of the Spanish Mediterranean town of Calpe face a different threat: heavy fines for hogging the beach.
In a news release Wednesday, the town council reminded beachgoers that under the city’s ordinance on beach use and management, setting up chairs, hammocks, beach umbrellas etc. is prohibited before 9 a.m. in order not to impede beach cleanup.
Anyone who doesn’t comply with the rules will be reported, have their belongings confiscated, and be fined 250 euros (about $270).
The council said chairs, hammocks and umbrellas left out for more than three hours during the day could be removed.
The group added that it has received complaints about people reserving spots on beaches for several years, and that tourists would sometimes arrive in the morning to find a spot already reserved with their belongings, but the owner was nowhere to be seen.
According to local news site Informacion, beachgoers taking up space is a common problem in the nearby popular resort of Benidorm.
There has been growing opposition to holidaymakers in Spain and its islands in recent months.
Last month, Barcelona’s city government, where thousands of people have protested against mass tourism, announced it would ban apartment rentals to tourists by 2028 in a bid to curb soaring housing costs and make the city more liveable.
In May, Ibiza and Mallorca implemented tougher crackdowns on party boats and public drinking.
Also in April, locals in the Canary Islands protested against over-tourism, accusing tourists of driving them out of their homes with high fees and causing environmental damage.
